100+ miles in Colorado

In preparation for Ironman Arizona I must have ridden 15, 100 mile or more rides. Today was the first such ride here in Colorado as I gear up my training for Kona. There is something a little different about 100 mile rides here, altitude and hills...and a lot of both. The ride took Luisa and I from our place just south of Downtown Denver up around Longmont, into Lyons, through Boulder and back to Denver. The terrain reminded me a lot of training in Madison, WI; not a flat spot out there. You are either riding up a hill or down a hill, you're always shifting and you are always trying to maintain some sort of rhythm.

The ride out to Lyons felt pretty good, but the ride from Lyons to Boulder along Highway 36 just hurt. I regained some feeling and groove once out of Boulder, but never quite felt good again. It was hot, I got hungry, and ran out of Infinit (my favorite nutritional supplement). On the way back to the apartment, Luisa and I made a stop at REI to grab some food, caffeine, and soak our tired legs in the river. There's nothing like a nice cool leg soaking to jump start the recovery process.

The first 100 miler, 111 actually, is always the hardest. Now it's time to just keep logging miles.